Re: Michael J. Fournier
ORB File No: 8769
Hearing held on: Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Place of hearing: North Bay Regional Health Centre – North Bay Site
Pursuant to: Sections 672.47(1) and 672.48(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. C. Fraser
Members: Dr. R. Kunjukrishnan
Dr. G. Stones
Ms. C. Murray
Mr. A. Bouvier
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Michael J. Fournier
Counsel for Accused: Mr. C. Bracken
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Mr. P. Trenker
The person on behalf of hospital: Ms. C. Condie
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. M. Mazurski
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated August 15, 2025)
Introduction
On April 17, 2025, Michael Fournier was found unfit to stand trial on charges of obtaining transportation by fraud, assault with a weapon, and disobeying a court order, all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“Criminal Code”). That finding was based on an assessment report of Dr. Stephanie Le dated March 24, 2025.
The Court did not make a Disposition and ordered, pursuant to s. 672.47(1) of the Criminal Code, that Mr. Fournier be referred to the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”) for a Disposition.
On June 18, 2025, the Board convened a hearing at North Bay Regional Health Centre – North Bay Site (“NBRHC” or the “hospital”). The issues to be determined are whether Mr. Fournier remains unfit as of the date of the hearing within the meaning of s. 2 of the Criminal Code. If he remains unfit, the necessary and appropriate Disposition to manage that risk must be determined, bearing in mind the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
Mr. Fournier was present at the hearing. Mr. Chad Bracken requested an order to be appointed as Mr. Fournier’s lawyer. The order was granted by the Board pursuant to s.650.01(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Fournier was represented throughout the hearing by Mr. Bracken.
An initial Hospital Report, dated May 27, 2025, was entered as Exhibit 1.
For the reasons set out below and based on the evidence before us, the Board concludes that Mr. Fournier remains unfit to stand trial, but not permanently so. The Board finds that a Detention Disposition is the necessary and appropriate Order on the terms set out in our formal Disposition having regard to the safety of the public, which is the paramount concern, and having regard to Mr. Fournier’s mental health, reintegration into society, and his other needs.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses
- Schizophrenia; and
Methamphetamine Use Disorder
Position of the Parties
- At the commencement of the hearing, the parties were canvassed for their positions. Counsel for the hospital, Mr. Paul Trenker, took the position that Mr. Fournier remains unfit to stand trial as of the date of this hearing. He submitted that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a Detention Disposition within the Forensic Programs at NBRHC with privileges up to and including indirectly supervised hospital and grounds privileges with conditions as set out on pages 12 and 13 of the Hospital Report. Counsel for the Attorney General supported the hospital’s position. Mr. Bracken, counsel for Mr. Fournier, also supported the hospital’s position and agreed that a Detention Disposition within Forensic Programs at NBRHC is necessary and appropriate on the terms requested by the hospital. Therefore, there was a joint submission on all issues.
Alleged Offences
- The Hospital Report provides the Case File Synopses of the Alleged Offences contained within the record, which are summarized herein as follows:
On July 22, 2024, Mr. Fournier stood before Justice C. D. McMorrow in North Bay to answer to the offence of Fail to Comply with Probation. He was released on a Common Law Peace Bond with a start date of July 22, 2024, and an end date of July 21, 2025, with the condition to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
Transportation Fraud
On October 18, 2024, the accused obtained services from 5-0 Cab from the Shell Gas Station located at 390 Lakeshore Drive North Bay. He was dropped off by the cab at City Hall located at 200 McIntyre Street East within the city of North Bay. The accused exited the cab without payment and left the area.
Assault with a Weapon
On November 12, 2024, Mr. Fournier attended the Edgewater apartment building in the city of North Bay. He was attempting to gain entry to the building but was denied access as he is not welcome there. Mr. Fournier was able to gain entry after he followed another tenant inside. The victim locked the elevator door so that Mr. Fournier was unable to attend any other floors. He became agitated with the victim and lunged at him with a pen, stabbing the victim’s left hand. The victim received scratches to his left hand as a result of the assault.
Disobey Court Order
Mr. Fournier was currently on a Peace Bond and due to the above incident, he was breaching his conditions.
Background and History
The Hospital Report contains detailed information regarding Mr. Fournier’s background and psychiatric history, the entirety of which need not be repeated here in detail. In brief, Mr. Fournier is a 36-year-old father of two children, aged 18 and 7. On January 27, 2025, Mr. Fournier was found unfit to stand trial by Justice Lainevool. The Justice signed a Treatment Order to be carried out at NBRHC for 60 days. Mr. Fournier was admitted to the NBRHC Mental Health and Law Program on January 29, 2025. On April 17, 2025, Mr. Fournier again appeared before Justice Lainevool and he remained unfit to stand trial. He was returned to the Forensic Assessment Unit at NBRHC to await his initial hearing before the ORB.
Mr. Fournier has a lengthy history of criminal convictions starting in 2005. His charges prior to the current alleged offences include break and enter and theft, possession of a weapon, theft under $5000, fail to comply with conditions of an undertaking, assault (x4), fail to comply with recognizance, uttering threats, fail to comply with probation order (x9), fail to attend court, and fail to comply with undertaking.
Mr. Fournier has a psychiatric history dating back to approximately 2020 when he was referred for a psychiatric assessment by his addictions medicine physician due to symptoms of psychosis including paranoia and perceptual disturbances. His symptoms were thought to be associated with ongoing cannabis use and non-adherence to prescribed medications. He had a number of attendances at NBRHC with similar complaints in March 2021. He was admitted to NBRHC on March 13, 2021, on a Form 1 of the Mental Health Act after being apprehended by the police when he was expressing suicidal and homicidal ideation to his father. He was later admitted to Southlake Regional Health Centre on July 15, 2021, again on a Form 1. He was released from custody to his mother after he had apparently assaulted his wife. His mother complained that he had difficulty making decisions and appeared to be responding to internal stimuli. He accepted a long-acting injectable medication and was discharged against medical advice. He then returned to hospital several days after discharge experiencing command hallucinations. On August 9, 2021, he was discharged home on a community treatment order. He went on to have two further admissions to the emergency department at NBRHC in April 2022, with increased symptoms of psychosis in the context of substance use and medication non-adherence.
Mr. Fournier had a subarachnoid cyst at around age 11. He was also in a car accident in 2019 in which he suffered a head injury.
Mr. Fournier has a history of intravenous drug use and has been treated with a number of opiate replacement therapies including both Suboxone and Methadone. He also has a history of alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and methamphetamine use.
Mr. Fournier is supported by the Ontario Disability Support Program (“ODSP”).
Mr. Fournier was found incapable to consent to his psychiatric treatment on May 12, 2025. His father is his substitute decision maker (“SDM”).
Since being at NBRHC on the current charges, Mr. Fournier has required seclusion on a few occasions for assaulting staff members.
Mr. Fournier has been non-compliant with medication. He was started on clozapine, which was being titrated up to a therapeutic level. However, just as he was starting to show signs of clinical improvement he refused clozapine. He has refused scheduled doses of intramuscular injections of aripiprazole as well.
Mr. Fournier continues to express delusional ideation and has repeatedly been observed responding to perceptual disturbances. His speech is disorganized, slow, and incoherent at times. His insight and judgement are poor.
It appears that Mr. Fournier was transient at the time of the alleged offences since the police records at the time record that he is of no fixed address.
Evidence at the Hearing
The Board had available to it the evidence and documents forming the Record, the Hospital Report, and oral evidence of Dr. Stephanie Le, Mr. Fournier’s psychiatrist and the author of the Hospital Report.
Dr. Le has been involved in Mr. Fournier’s case since she assessed Mr. Fournier’s fitness to stand trial in January 2025. She then gave further evidence that Mr. Fournier remained unfit in April 2025.
Dr. Le assessed Mr. Fournier’s fitness to stand trial last week. In her opinion, he remains unfit to stand trial. He has ongoing psychotic symptoms that make it a challenge for him to understand why he is in hospital. He doesn’t believe that he has any charges relating to the alleged offences. He gives bizarre delusional answers to Taylor test type questions. He would be unable to meaningfully participate in a trial and instruct counsel in a criminal proceeding.
It is too early to deem Mr. Fournier permanently unfit. Dr. Le said that the medications are starting to take effect. However, she hasn’t seen any improvement regarding his understanding of the charges and the legal process.
Dr. Le testified that Mr. Fournier is not ready for indirectly supervised hospital and grounds privileges. He is still receiving PRNs for concerning symptoms of psychosis. In fact, on the day of this hearing, Mr. Fournier was observed ducking as he ran around the unit believing he was being shot at. His psychotic symptoms such as this can make him unsafe around other people. Dr. Le hopes that in the next 12 months Mr. Fournier will improve sufficiently to achieve indirectly supervised hospital and grounds privileges.
In response to questions of Mr. Bracken, Dr. Le testified that Mr. Fournier is behaving in the same manner now as he was before he struck the nurses. Each time Mr. Fournier has been discharged from a hospital admission, he has relapsed to methamphetamine use and has been non-compliant with medications. This has led to further psychosis. Each time Mr. Fournier has returned to hospital, it has been harder to achieve treatment efficacy. Dr. Le assured the Board that she would continue to assess Mr. Fournier regularly throughout the next year.
In response to questions of the Board, Dr. Le testified that the fitness assessment conducted last week would yield the same results today. She has gathered information from several sources, including the nursing notes, to come to this conclusion. Mr. Fournier was on methadone prior to arriving at the hospital. Mr. Fournier has told the treatment team that he is on methadone for chronic pain. However, Dr. Le suspects that he is on methadone for opioid maintenance therapy.
Analysis and Conclusions
Fitness
- Having heard and considered the entirety of the evidence as well as the joint submissions from the parties, the Board finds that Mr. Fournier is currently unfit to stand trial, based on the test to be applied in R v Taylor, as well as set out in R v Bharwani, 2023 ONCA 203. Dr. Le was clear that Mr. Fournier remains unfit. He gives bizarre delusional answers to the Taylor type questions and would not be able to meaningfully participate in a trial. The Board accepts the joint submission of the parties on this issue. Dr. Le opines that Mr. Fournier’s understanding of the legal process and charges against him may improve. As such, the Board does not find Mr. Fournier permanently unfit.
Necessary and Appropriate Disposition
- Having found Mr. Fournier unfit, but not permanently so, the Board must make a Disposition
that is necessary and appropriate, considering the criteria delineated in s.672.54 of the Criminal Code.
Mr. Fournier’s clinical team has concluded that Mr. Fournier can be safely managed under a Detention Order with the conditions set out on pages 12 and 13 of the Hospital Report. It is the treatment team’s unanimous opinion that, left to his own devices, Mr. Fournier would discontinue treatment and return to the use of substances. This would rapidly result in further decompensation of his already unstable mental state. In such circumstances, it would be highly likely that he would engage in behaviour similar to that at the time of the alleged offences.
Mr. Fournier lacks insight into his illness and the need for antipsychotic medication. He has been non-adherent to medication in hospital. His mental state is likely to decompensate without close supervision. He continues to experience positive symptoms of psychosis and is responding to both auditory and visual hallucinations. He has been violent and aggressive with staff and remains irritable and unpredictable. Therefore, Detention within the Forensic Programs of NBRHC is required. The panel finds that the terms requested by the hospital, and jointly supported by the Crown and Mr. Bracken, are the least onerous and least restrictive to manage him safely.
The Board finds that that the necessary and appropriate, least onerous and restrictive Disposition, is a Detention Order with terms as recommended by the hospital, as set out in our formal Disposition.
DATED this 15th day of August 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. Christine Murray
Legal Member
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board